replace "bundled"Plossls?

[Fatbloke-Dim]

I bought a Skywatcher 22 Newt ,and with it came a Skywatcher 25mm Plossl ,which seems to be fine . Also thrown in , was a pair of "No-Namo" Plossls ,of 15mm and 6.5mm. As you may imagine , thes "makeweight" items are'nt the bestest - ever . Can anyone suggest either a set to cover most amateur scenarios ,or 2 or 3 sizes , to give best bang-for-buck ratio? Was looking at Baader , or mebbe Televue , but now considering higher-end stuff from Meade and also Skywatcher themselves . All advice gratefully received , budget may get stretched a little further if buying used ,if that be a sound idea to maximise monetary mileage .

[Stargazer_00]

Hi FBD,

I reckon BST Starguiders are a great palce to start offering good performance for £50 delivered, search for them on eBay (only outlet).

The other, slightly higher price alternative is TeleVue Plossls.  Still Plossls but exceptional quality. 

I'm burning to ask, what scope is the Skywatcher 22 newt?  Can you post a picture of it?

[Fatbloke-Dim]

AHHHHHHHH....

[removed word]!!!!!

Until I find a way to edit posts , like on other forums I post to , this  is always gunna happen . Finger trouble ,shoulda read "Skywatcher 200 Newt" . Stargazer , are you hinting there may be a better alternative to the Plossl? Had a look at the BST's on e-swindle , and may go with 'em ,they seem to be fairly well regarded  on here . Might get me some new typing fingers whilst there ,too .

[bingevader]

Once you reach 50 posts (no spam please!) the Classified section here is very good and safe, or there's UK Astronomy Buy and Sell for second hand purchases.

The usual advice would be to get to know you 'scope first before diving into eyepiece purchases, but there's usually a 10mm to go with the 25mm to keep you going for a bit.

But if the 15mm and 6.5mm are duff then that may be tricky. The BSTs would be a good place to start, or the Vixen NPL Plossls.

I can vouch for both the TV and Meade 4000 plossls if you wanted to spent a bit more at this stage.

Eye relief can get a little tight with plossls as the focal length gets shorter mind you!

Cheers

[Stargazer_00]

Specifically why I believe BST Starguiders are so good is they offer amazing eye relief at all focal lengths.  Really under priced eyepieces in my opinion.

In terms of comfort I've only enjoyed TeleVue Delos more.

[ronin]

The BST Starguiders are probably the best you will get for the cost involved.

As SG-00 says they are not plossl's, they are slightly more complex with a 6 element design. They are available under a number of alternative names but Sky's the Limit has sold them in the UK the longest and they are also the least expensive, and Alan is pretty good to deal with. In the US they are sold as Astro-Tech Paradigms and again they are held in high regard.

StL has another BST eyepiece, slightly wider view but no real information about that one at present, so for safety stick with the Starguider. For your 200 the BST's should be good.

Slightly more expensive @ £65 I think are the Celestron X-Cels. In general people seem to rank the BST and the X-Cels as pretty much identical in performance. Some like one some the other in about equal amounts. One slight advantage of the X-Cels is that there is one more down at the lower end, think they do a 5mm 7mm 9mm then 12mm, the BST's come in 5mm, 8mm then 12mm. In simple terms if you always wanted the higher magnifications then they have a better selection of focal lengths.

Really after that you are in the £100+ bracket. There is a newish eyepiece out by Skywatcher but no real reviews of it, think it is around the £90 area. FLO has them.

There are some eyepieces around that have never caught on, there was/is the Antares W70 range. Again good value but never gained the popularity I suspect they should have. At the time they were around the TV Plossls were down at £60 a piece and the TV were always a good safe bet as far as eyepieces went. When TV put the price up it seemed to open the door for other eyepieces to get in.

Many come out of China, the BST's are produced by Barsta as are the Skywatcher eyepiece.

[bingevader]

I can vouch for the X-Cel LX 5mm in the 200p Skyliner (do you have it, or the explorer?), 5mm is pushing it though, and only great on good nights at x240 magnification (it would be a safer bet in the explorer at 200x), the 6mm WO SPL is also a lovely eyepiece and popular in the Skyliner giving x200, but all this depends on how dark a site you are going to be viewing from.

Which is back to the "getting to know you 'scope" comment and so really for the time being, back to the BSTs or plossls where your outlay isn't going to be too high before you really know what you want to observe and from where!

Cheers

[Pig]

+1 for the XCEL LX series, I had a complete set of these as my first set of eyepieces, all had excellent eye relief, pin sharp views and they have a pretty good FOV 

They go for around £40 second hand and around £60 - £70 new

[Naemeth]

Did you decide in the end what you're going to get?

[Fatbloke-Dim]

Just in the process of deciding this weekend , not been able to get online and reel in the verdicts until today ,Friday . Looks like the BST's are leading by a nose ,but the X-Cels  will get a look-in , and until my curry order gets delivered in about an hour , I'll head over to Astro B.&S. , and see wot's "going down , to use the vernacular of the streets . Televues were on my list , but if they are equally regarded as BST's ,then it be a no-brainer , if only from the price point of view . It's the 200 P.D.S. Newt I have , the Explorer ,is'nt the Skyliner a Dobbo? Hopefully may get a chance to give the bundled ones a pop this weekend , at least I'd be able to see exactly how they rate . But I'm sure I'll get some decent quality ones , whilst keeping the cheapies ,and will then be able do a like-for-like comparo on 'em . Will post up what I end up with when the order goes in .

Thanx all for the advice , VERY much appreciated. Just need to lose this blasted fog/mist/drizzle now. Bet it clears up nicely next week when I'm on nights !

[Naemeth]

Just in the process of deciding this weekend , not been able to get online and reel in the verdicts until today ,Friday . Looks like the BST's are leading by a nose ,but the X-Cels  will get a look-in , and until my curry order gets delivered in about an hour , I'll head over to Astro B.&S. , and see wot's "going down , to use the vernacular of the streets . Televues were on my list , but if they are equally regarded as BST's ,then it be a no-brainer , if only from the price point of view . It's the 200 P.D.S. Newt I have , the Explorer ,is'nt the Skyliner a Dobbo? Hopefully may get a chance to give the bundled ones a pop this weekend , at least I'd be able to see exactly how they rate . But I'm sure I'll get some decent quality ones , whilst keeping the cheapies ,and will then be able do a like-for-like comparo on 'em . Will post up what I end up with when the order goes in .

Thanx all for the advice , VERY much appreciated. Just need to lose this blasted fog/mist/drizzle now. Bet it clears up nicely next week when I'm on nights !

The TV plossls should be a little better (sharper, more contrast) than the BSTs I believe (never having looked through a BST), but the BSTs will have a wider FOV and the shorter ones will be more comfortable on eye relief. Both would do well, but the TV plossls are less likely to be swapped out - the only way you can really upgrade from one is to go for a wider FOV.

[Fatbloke-Dim]

Righto...

just ordered some BST's. 5,9,15mm . Will see how they go , they'll likely be "keepers", even when I get around to acquiring some "posh" e.p.'s. Can't fault the rice ,especially if they stack up as good as folks regard them . We'll see.

[swamp thing]

Hi

You can edit your posts after you've made 250 of them. This was sadly made necessary by some members abusing the facility.

If you add your kit list to your signature it may help others when making suggestions for you.

Go to "my settings" after clicking on the arrow beside your user name, on the top right, then, "signature" on the left of the page.

HTH